1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a manually-operable device which can be used to read information which is encoded in magnetic form on a credit card, and which can update the information after it has been read.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Credit cards have been employed in two different fashions in the past. In the first fashion, information recorded on the credit card is read only once, in order to allow access to whatever service is desired. In this first fashion, use of the credit card at any individual point is not restricted by information on the credit card itself, but is rather imposed by external independent means.
In the second fashion, the credit card not only contains information which allows access to services, but also contains use information which imposes a limitation on use of the credit card without requiring such external independent means. In this second fashion, the use information is updated by writing updated use information on the card itself.
If a credit card is to be used in the first fashion described above, a manually operable reader may be used, since it is only necessary to move a magnetic strip underneath a read head and suitable electronic means may be utilized to read the information recorded on the credit card. However, if a credit card is to be used in the second fashion, it is not only necessary to provide a reader, but it is also necessary to provide a writer which will update the use information recorded on the credit card. In the prior art, a reader/writer of this type has always been motor driven, in order to insure a constant recording quality while the use information is updated by regulating credit card speed through the device. In the prior art, a motorized reader/writer utilizes two passes of the credit card through the device. In the first pass, key information is read to provide access to the service desired, while in the second pass the use information is updated. Provision of such a motor-driven device increases cost.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a device which would not only read information magnetically encoded on a credit card but which would also update information thereon without requiring a motor, and which would operate as reliably as motor-driven devices.